The One - Gilmore Girls

Chapter 2

Little did Logan know, as soon as Ricky left the house to be with his dad, Rory tended to go on her own trip down memory lane.  First, she remembered the incredible shock of finding out that she was pregnant...she had been so stunned that she couldn't even comprehend it for a couple days.  Then, she had the thought to go and talk to her father.  She had to know what Christopher felt about how she was raised.  After talking to him and looking back on their relationship, she knew that Logan had to have the choice of being in their child's life.  She also knew that the pain she felt from being a spectator in her parents on-again off-again relationship was something that she wanted to protect her child from at all costs. 

After she had made her decision (there was no question that she would keep the baby that had been created with the man that she loved so deeply), she then had to tell people.  Her mother came first, and boy was that hard...she had been shocked but responded in her normal rambling fashion.  Lorelai seemed to know that the rambling would help calm Rory and show her that she would love her no matter what.

If telling Lorelai was hard, telling Logan seemed downright impossible.  She knew that she would chicken out if she tried to call him and going to London was too much of a risk.  She couldn't handle the possibility of seeing Odette.  She felt bad for what had transpired between her and Logan, but she loved him and knew deep down that if she could go back, she wouldn't change a thing. 

Telling him that she was pregnant in a letter seemed like the easy way out, but the truth was that Rory knew she wouldn't be able to get out all of the things she needed to say to him in person.  Actually mailing the letter took every ounce of courage that she had.  And the two weeks between mailing it and actually hearing from Logan had been excruciating.  She had almost convinced herself that it meant Logan wanted nothing to do with their child when she saw the announcement of the broken engagement.  One week later, he showed up on her mother's doorstep in Stars Hollow.  From that day on, Logan had supported Rory every step of the way, while never questioning her wishes to put their romantic relationship behind them. 

Sorting out her relationship with Logan had turned out to be much easier than sorting out her career.  She really enjoyed running the gazette, but she had to think about more than herself now.  It couldn't support her, let alone her child.  She finally took a long, hard look at her career and how her field had changed over the years.  She had to admit that, at first, Headmaster Charleston's offer to teach had seemed like it was simply out of pity.  However, after the idea had been planted, it seemed to pop into her head more and more and the idea had taken hold.  She wanted to write her book, and she knew that if it went well, it could help pay for her masters degree. 

The first step towards her new goal had been to decide when she would start.  When she finally told her mom that she seriously wanted to teach and that her chosen field would be English, Lorelai had been a bit surprised but also understood how much becoming a mother could change a person.  In order to get started as soon as possible, Rory went to Emily.  She knew that the chances of starting at Yale in January were slim with only a little over a month before the term started.  She also knew that a sizable donation would make this goal possible.  Telling Emily about the enormous changes that were taking place in her life had not been easy, but the combination of Emily's new life and the conviction she heard in Rory's voice had helped tremendously.  It didn't take long for Emily to realize what Rory needed from her, and it had taken even less time to write the check. 

It took about three years for Rory to get her masters.  She had tried to go full time, but having a baby had made it difficult.  Logan had insisted on paying for an apartment in New Haven and a full time nanny that travelled between their places with Ricky.  When she graduated, she applied at many schools in the area, but it didn't take her long to accept an offer from Chilton teaching English and sponsoring the school newspaper. She supposed it had been a combination of pride in her alma mater and the desire to stay close to her family.  The offer itself was generous, but Rory knew that Chilton preferred to hire past graduates and made sure that their employees were well taken care of.

Since she graduated in the middle of the school year, she took the months between the completion of her masters degree and the start of her new job to find a nice apartment in Hartford and get settled. It was also nice to spend a little extra time with her mom and Luke before life got busy again.

Now, she had been teaching for two and a half years and absolutely loved it. Being around teenagers on a daily basis had been a bit of an adjustment, but she told herself it prepared her for when Ricky would be that age. Teaching English and sponsoring The Franklin allowed her to combine two of her great loves. She never regretted giving up on her Journalism career and finding a new dream. Her family and friends had supported her wholeheartedly as well.